Presidential Papers, Doc#1316 Confidential To Albert Coady Wedemeyer, 28 February 1955. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #1317

Document #1316; February 28, 1955
To Albert Coady Wedemeyer
Series: EM, WHCF, Confidential File: Formosan Question ; Category: Confidential
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVI - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part VII: "Nothing could be worse than global war"; January 1955 to May 1955
Chapter 14: "We must show no lack of firmness"

 

Dear Al:1 This will acknowledge your letter of February twenty-first. Of course I share your high opinion of the ability and qualifications of Leonard Heaton.2

As far as the Formosan question is concerned, I wish it were as simple as drawing a line and saying in effect, "this far and no further."3 I assure you that there are a thousand and one complicated factors that prevent such an easy solution. I mention only one: It is of the utmost importance that we maintain, so far as possible, the morale of the Chinese Nationals, both military and civilians. In the current situation, their beliefs and decisions cannot be absolutely disregarded--they must be persuaded. After all, if an all-out attack should ever develop, they are the ones who must do the land fighting. To this I am certain you would agree.

Thank you for telling me about Earl Schaefer; I had not known that he had had a stroke.4 As a matter of fact, he had written me saying that he expected to be at the Shriner breakfast last week, but apparently he was unable to make it.5 I have sent him a little note.

With best wishes, Sincerely

1 On Lieutenant General Albert Coady Wedemeyer's long friendship with Eisenhower see Eisenhower Papers, vols. I-XIII. Wedemeyer had retired from the Army in July 1951 and was vice-president and director of the Rheem Manufacturing Company.

2 Wedemeyer had recommended that Major General Leonard Dudley Heaton (M.D. University of Louisville 1926), then Commanding General of Walter Reed Hospital, be considered for the position of Surgeon General of the Army. Wedemeyer had described Heaton, the only Army surgeon to be elected to the American Surgical Association, as "intelligent, a team player, and dedicated to his profession" (Wedemeyer to Eisenhower, Feb. 21, 1955, same file as document). Heaton would decline consideration for the post of Surgeon General and retain his position at Walter Reed. He would perform Eisenhower's abdominal surgery in June 1956 (see Eisenhower to Heaton, Mar. 10, 1955, AWF/D).

3 For background on the Formosan question see nos. 1265, 1276, and 1311. Eisenhower's decisions regarding the situation were, Wedemeyer said, "eminently sound." He warned, however, against fighting for any offshore islands that were not involved in maintaining the line of bases (from the Aleutians to Australia) which the United States needed to defend its interests in the Pacific area.

4 Julius Earl Schaefer--an Eisenhower friend and political supporter--was vice-president of the Boeing Airplane Company.

5 The President had spoken at the annual breakfast of national leaders of the Masonic Lodge on February 24. Among the leaders were members of the Cabinet, Congress, and the White House staff (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1955, pp. 296-98; New York Times, Feb. 25, 1955).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Confidential To Albert Coady Wedemeyer, 28 February 1955. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1316. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1316.cfm

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